African apparel

I really wish I brought more clothes to wear. I seem to be wearing the same thing every day. Tomorrow I am picking up the clothes I am getting made, which is very exciting. I've got some wide leg pants, 2 maxi dresses and a midi dress. Surprisingly most of the fabrics I chose are blue tones. I don't know why this is. I've never been a huge fan of blues but I've really gravitated towards them since being away. 

The colours of Africa at the moment are orange and green, because that's what I see everywhere I look. Orange dirt and green trees. These also happen to be my favourite colours together so I feel very much in my element here. Naturally, I chose an orange and green fabric to make one of my maxi dresses with. 

Update:

My clothes are made and I am thrilled! I now have 4 new teachers' outfits which are the most comfortable things to wear. I even got headbands made in the same fabric as my dresses. I'm just waiting until I get my hair braided before I take pictures wearing them. 

Updated update: 

Photos are in. 

Mum, here is the dress we got made for you. It is quite lovely so you might not get it after all ;)

The things I'll miss

I'm lucky to experience Africa in rainy season. It's not dry, my heels aren't cracked and everything is a different shade of green. It has been raining every day this week. And I've been too sick to enjoy it. My head is pounding, nose is running and throat is almost too sore to speak! 

The rain here is fabulous. If you know me, you know that I despise the rainy weather; It makes me miserable. But here the rain makes me feel so wonderful. It starts off as just a sprinkle and you have about 1 minute to collect your things and bring them inside before the downpour becomes heavy and intense. Apparently I haven't seen the heaviest yet and I really hope I get to experience it while I'm here. I want to dance in it. I want to lie down on the basketball court and have a whole body experience of the rain coming at me from all directions. As it is, we can barely hear each other yelling over the heavy rain on our tin roof. 

The days are about 28*C, but the rainwater is quite cool. I've had to put a jumper on once or twice since being here. Most of the time I am sweating through my clothes, which is generally a maxi skirt and a t-shirt. 

I can't help but think about things I am going to miss about this place. I really should be just enjoying everything as it is in front of me but I am so sad about not having these moments forever. 

Things like singing to my nieces to sleep every night, listening to the type of birds that actually sing instead of tweet and chirp, watching Jummai cook, eating her delicious food- actually, I'm going to miss everything about Jummai. She is one of my favourite parts about Nigeria. I'll miss bedtime reading and puzzle books with Lollie, not necessarily talking or anything but the whole idea is that we were doing these things together. I'll miss the greetings, the Nigerian-English, the green and orange landscapes, the rain on the tin roof, picking and eating passionfruit the size of large oranges, the sense of real community, the modest fashion and cooking with a huge gas oven and stove! I'll even miss the reduced screen time and lack of power; the bucket baths we have to take when the hot water isn't working. The Nigerians in town calling "BATURI!" while trying to touch my white skin and standing out like a sore thumb. Ok so maybe I won't miss those last two things.. I certainly chose a bad time to be blonde. And even though I am fairly tanned to my standards, I could not be more white to these locals. 

Oh that turned out to be quite a long list of things I'll miss. I really do love it here. I wonder if I could have just as good an experience here without the comfort of my family. For now, I am grateful that I don't have to wonder. 

More pics from Miango

So here are some images that didn't quite fit in my last post. 

Miango is gorgeous. 

Everyday capers

I guess it's not everyday that you go to a 5 year old's birthday party and chase chickens around... Or watch them get killed and gutted the next day. While I was there to see the whole thing, I may have turned a slight shade of green and vowed official vegetarianism. Of course, that didn't last long. Jummai, our house help is the most delightful human being ever, and also one of the best cooks known to mankind. She cooked up the chickens real nice. I just had to remove images from my mind of playing with them the day before. (Lucky I didn't get attached or start naming them.) Talk about fresh produce! These chickens were enormous. The people who sold them to us apologised that a couple of them were small and even those were bigger than any I had ever seen!

Another adventure I've had since being here is going to the fabric shop to choose some cloth for some clothes I am getting made. I had some dress designs in my head already and was just looking for something to tickle my fancy. Fabric is made in batches of about 1.15x6m  (called wrappas) and folded in piles from the floor to the roof in no particular order, style or colour. It was completely overwhelming only seeing a sliver of a million different designs piled up so compactly. They had to get a man in to show us some of the fabrics we liked on the bottom of the piles. Mum, you would have been in fabric paradise. This was just one shop of about a thousand. Lollie said that this place was the least overwhelming for her. I can only imagine what wrappa lane would be like. 

I chose about 8 fabrics I fell in love with and had to put half of them back because they were asking a lot of money. Probably giving us Baturi (White person) prices. Mum, Lollie and I had a lot of different ideas for a what you would like but we finally agreed on a fabric to get your dress made in. 

I could have stayed shopping for more fabrics but at the same time, I was getting a little claustrophobic and overwhelmed with options, so a scoop of condensed milk flavoured ice cream was exactly what I needed. 

Another day, we went to Widows, a mission incentive to put women into business with their sewing skills. They measured me up, looked at my pictures of inspiration and set to work. They should be ready to pick up next week sometime! I bought a few souvenirs and gifts from a room full of things they had made. Just little things, as I don't have much money on me. 

I have been playing teacher this last week, helping the older two girls with their school work. It's mostly ok with the occasional tantrum/meltdown (not by me, incase you were wondering). The content they have is awesome with hands on learning and heaps of technology practise. I am merely there to facilitate and supervise their learning. It's such a great experience because I have had scripture teaching with kindergarten and prac with years 1-4 and Lilly is in year 5 this year. (I just need some time with year 6 and I will have had a taste of everyone!) Everyday, we start school at 9am in the garage with the doors open facing the rest of the compound. We have a break at 10:40 for a light snack and some exercises with the other children. Sometimes the preschool kids join in, as they have their break at the same time. Scarlett is usually leading the pack. We finish school work between 12 and 1, depending on how much work there is and if lunch is ready yet. 

Jummai normally cooks for us but we invite (make) her sit and eat with us as we eat together. She is such a generous and gentle lady and loves to see us served before herself but Lollie and I normally insist that she helps herself before we have devoured the lot. She truly is a wonderful cook! 

The other day while she was mopping the floor and I was teaching the girls something interesting in the lounge room, Jummai was listening to some music on her phone and singing while she worked. I loved listening to her, but she paused for a moment while still working and I said "SING for me Jummai!" She was really caught off guard and turned her music off. 

"In Hausa?" She said. (Hausa is the local Nigerian language.)

"Yes! Anything!" I replied. 

She went on to worship and praise God with the sweetest song. I only understood "hallelujah" but she told me that the song meant that she was so thankful for everything God had given her and she will sing praises to him forever. 

It's a small glimpse into the life of a Christian Nigerian woman. I nearly teared up at the thought: You go over to a country expecting to help the people change and grow.. And they end up changing you. Even the way everyone treats strangers over here is just so lovely. 

"Good afternoon Sir/Ma/Aunty. How is work? How is your family? You are welcome. I bid you a safe journey." This is said about 20 times a day, just to people passing by or holding doors open for you or serving you at the checkout. Surely we could learn a thing or two in western culture from the nature of Nigerians. As a Christian, I can certainly learn a lot from Jummai, delighting in The Lord as she cleans and cooks for someone else's family while she lacks the same resources to do the same for her own. The Walkers do allow Jummai to cook for her family with their ingredients and resourceful kitchen, but just imagine the majority of the nation. 

Anyway, here are some pictures of around the compound ..